Sustainable Entrepreneur: Ray Dube of Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England

Ray Dube took a beating. Years as a route jumper, delivery truck driver, and merchandiser had taken a toll on his body. He was physically and mentally worn. He knew he had to make a change. So he left his rig for a desk job not knowing that when he left his truck’s cab that final time, he would start on a career path he never envisioned himself on.

Today Dube is Coca Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England’s (CCNNE) Sustainability Manager. He’s held the position since 2013 but it wasn’t an easy milestone to reach, starting in CCNNE’s backrooms and then to its offices.

A native of Manchester, Dube started with Coca-Cola’s bottling franchise when he was in high school, loading delivery trucks after class. After graduation the company hired Dube full-time. He worked there for a year before taking leave to join the Marine Corps. After a tour in Iraq during Desert Storm, Dube came home looking for a respite from being overseas, but was back to work the following week.

“I moved up in the company until I was an account manager working accounts and sales,” said Dube. “Then during that time I decided to go back to college.”

College was an unusual move for Dube who said education was never part of his family’s rhetoric growing up. His father never went to school and Dube’s mother left school at the age of 12 to help support her family working in Manchester’s mills. But Dube realized that to be of value to the company he needed an education. Dube went to school full-time for three and a half years while working and raising a family. He was part of the last class to graduate from New Hampshire College before it became Southern New Hampshire University. Dube was still working at the Manchester branch of Coca-Cola when he broke his back. That injury coupled with several knee surgeries and a hip replacement from working as a deliveryman, finally had Dube say enough was enough, and the company agreed.

With his degree in business, finance and economics, Dube took a position as a finance analyst with Coca-Cola Marketing group. After a year the CFO of the Bedford branch said he wanted Dube on his team. In his new position Dube would set on the path for the career that has become his calling.

“It was one of those crazy things where you ask a question about something and it just kind of blew up into this huge problem, but also an opportunity,” said Dube.

What Dube found was a pattern of inaccurate billings for bottle redemptions. Over a five year period as Dube worked to correct the financial discrepancies, he discovered something the company should’ve been talking about publicly but wasn’t: their work as a major recycler of spent plastic and aluminum.

CCNNE has reduced solid waste by 80 percent over the last six years that includes PET plastics, shrink wrap and aluminum. Those materials are then sold to companies like Foss Manufacturing and Polartec then resold for to companies like The North Face and Patagonia to make their popular fleece jackets. Their Londonderry facility receives 6,000 tractor-trailer loads of material each year and their solid waste dumpster only needs to be emptied nine times in a one year period. But CCNNE’s sustainability efforts aren’t confined to their facility. The company’s Energy Management System coolers used in convenience stores, delis, restaurants and other shops that sell Coke products, reduce that clientele’s energy costs an average of 35 percent.

Coca Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England is also a green-certified business in the Green Alliance, a union of local, sustainable businesses and community members throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

Dube saw not publicly sharing this information as a misstep, especially at a time when there was a media uproar over CCNNEE’s perceived environmental degradation. Dube prepared a pitch and took the matter to the company’s CEO. The company agreed and Dube was given his current position, a move Dube said not many other companies would make. Dube accepted the challenge and has worked tirelessly to reclaim CCNNE’s identity as a forward-thinking bottling company.

He still travels a lot, but not on delivery routes. As a man with no educational background, Dube now travels throughout New England educating classrooms of middle and high school students, colleges and adults wherever he goes.

“Five years ago I would’ve thought no way and today I love it,” added Dube. “I love teaching kids and adults. Thankfully I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I never would’ve thought this is where I would’ve ended up, but I’m happy to be here.”

For more information about CCNNE’s sustainability, visitwww.ccnne.com.

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Blog Author

Mike Bellamente

Green Alliance strives to increase the profits of businesses that are having the least impact on the environment and to encourage more sustainable business practices through "Business-to-Business" mentoring and strength in partnership. We also want ... Read Full